In 1965, the Second Vatican Council in its conciliar documents, Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, reminded the Catholic Church of its mission in the world as a sign and instrument of prophetic service. From the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has strongly recommended that Catholics be the public church out there in the field advocating justice for all God's people, especially for the poor and those on the margins. In her work, Mary Doak puts before us very clearly and descriptively where we are in our mission as a public and prophetic church. Doak states that while globalization is uniting us, it is also dividing us as we face problems of unprecedented scope: vast inequality, climate change, population migration, human trafficking, and desperate refugees. Although the church has always responded to inequality, the plight of refugees and migrants, and, to some extent, climate change, it has never had to face these issues on such a massive scale as today. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the above issues even more so.

This ambitious work is illustrated in the depth of its scholarship. It is well documented in supporting references. Doak uses not only theological sources, but also sources from the natural and social sciences, to give a more detailed image of the tragedy confronting God's creation. But Doak is realistic in all her chapter presentations that the church alone cannot solve these problems. Government and state policies as well as international agreements are necessary to make for a more just society. However, the church must do its part to work with others to increase solidarity in the world.

This book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1, which is grounded in the teachings of Vatican II and later ecclesiologies, puts its emphasis on two concepts which are fundamental for the church's mission in the contemporary world: unity-in-diversity and persons-in-community. Because the church must be a sign and instrument of unity, chapters 2 and 3 address two of the church's historical failures in maintaining unity-in-diversity. More specifically, chapter 2 is concerned with the anti-Semitism that was present in New Testament times and continues to distort our ecclesial self-understanding. There must be room for Judaism as well as other religions if we are to serve God's plan of unity-in-diversity. Chapter 3 deals with the second historical failure: women are seen and treated as less than full members of the church. Anti-Semitism and misogyny prevent the church from being that prophetic witness to the world, especially when it is trying to find solutions to the major global challenges that are confronting our contemporary world. The last three chapters, 4 through 6, discuss the major issues confronting the world today: economic poverty, climate change, and human migration.

Doak concludes her work by stating that a public and prophetic church must be one that takes the issues of women very seriously and works with people of all faiths or no faith to make a difference in the world. In short, the church must do church differently in order to be a sign and instrument of genuine community in the twenty-first century. Doing or acting church according to gospel values is living a radically different, even heroically countercultural, life. The issues are urgent, and the response from the church must be prophetic, which means standing up to the powers that destroy God's creation.

This book would serve as an excellent source for an undergraduate or graduate course in theology of justice, Catholic social teaching, or the Church's mission. In fact, when I concluded reading this book, it gave me an inspiration to develop a course based on this title: A Prophetic Public Church. I recommend that this book be placed in college libraries.